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Magic host Bucks looking to keep hold of second spot

Mar 27, 2009 - 2:47 AM By Matt Becker Stats Senior Writer

Milwaukee (31-41) at Orlando (53-18) 7:00 p.m. EDT

ORLANDO, Florida (AP) -- By defeating a team they were chasing in the standings their last time out, the Orlando Magic took over second place in the Eastern Conference, giving them a chance to host a potential second-round playoff series against that opponent.

Any slip up the rest of the way could cost them that opportunity.

The Magic look to build off their latest victory Friday night and avoid a letdown against the struggling Milwaukee Bucks, whom they haven't lost to at home in more than four years.

In a matchup featuring two of the best teams in the league, Orlando (53-18) defeated Boston 84-82 on Wednesday. Dwight Howard blocked a potential go-ahead layup by Paul Pierce with 3.8 seconds left and the Magic clinched their second straight Southeast Division title.

"We get another banner," said Howard, who finished with 24 points and 21 rebounds. "Hopefully we can get two more."

The Magic's road to a conference championship potentially got a little easier with Wednesday's win. Orlando moved percentage points ahead of Boston for second place in the East and would have home-court advantage for a possible second-round series between the teams.

The Magic have won six straight and 23 of 27 in Orlando.

"We want to get into the second-place spot," All-Star forward Rashard Lewis said. "It would be good for us, and it would be good to have home court."

Wednesday's victory wasn't easy, though, as the Magic were held to 14 points in the final period and nearly blew a 16-point lead.

"The first 2 1/2 quarters that was the best offensive basketball. ... Thirty minutes is a long period of time to play good offensive basketball against a team like Boston," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We've got to go to school on that and learn from it and try to sustain that kind of offensive basketball for longer periods of time."

Orlando had little trouble offensively in a 106-80 win at Milwaukee (31-41) on March 18. The Magic jumped out to a 36-20 lead at the end of the first quarter behind 18 points from Howard. The three-time All-Star center finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and a season high-tying seven assists.

The Magic have won three straight and six of the last seven over the Bucks. They've also won the last six meetings in Orlando since a 111-105 loss December 29, 2004.

Milwaukee arrives in Orlando needing a win to avoid falling further out of the playoff race.

The Bucks are 2-8 this month and have dropped from eighth to 10th in the East since losing leading scorer Michael Redd to a season-ending knee injury and center Andrew Bogut to a sore back. Bogut will be re-evaluated next week.

"Right now, when we need to be playing our best basketball, our most competitive, we're not," forward Richard Jefferson said after Wednesday's 115-106 loss to Toronto. "We're playing subpar basketball at a time when teams are picking it up. Even some of the teams that might not be in the hunt are picking up their intensity and we haven't done that the last couple of weeks."

Jefferson shook off a recent shooting slump, going 10-for-18 and scoring 22 on Wednesday after averaging 15.3 points on 34.9 percent shooting in his previous three games. He had 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting in last week's loss to the Magic.

Milwaukee is trying to avoid losing four straight for the first time since November 24-29 and has had little luck away from home lately.

The Bucks, who opened a four-game road trip Wednesday, have lost five straight and 10 of 12 away from Milwaukee.

"It's just going to get tougher for us," forward Charlie Villanueva said. "The more we lose, the tougher it gets."